Fluorite

specimen number:
2292106

location:
Tule Mine, Melchor Muzquiz, Coahuila, Mexico

description:
An attractive and neat columnar grouping of lustrous gemmy fluorite crystals without matrix. Naturally crystallized all around and in very good condition. No points of attachment. Minor Celestine is present.

The El Tule mine, located in the Melchor Muzquiz municipality of Coahuila, Mexico, is a notable stratabound deposit worked primarily for celestine and fluorite. Geologically, the mineralization occurs as replacement bodies and pocket fillings hosted within Cretaceous limestone sequences of the ancient Sabinas Basin. The deposit was formed by low-temperature, basin-derived hydrothermal fluids that selectively replaced carbonate layers, precipitating sharp, elongated white to light blue celestine crystals often associated with deep lilac or purple cubic fluorite crystals showing characteristic stepped growth faces. Commercial underground extraction in the Muzquiz district grew significantly during the mid-twentieth century to supply industrial strontium for electronics and specialized glass manufacturing, alongside fluorspar flux for metallurgy. Operations at El Tule were most active from the 1960s through the 1980s, with industrial production tapering off by the late twentieth century due to shifting global technology and market demands, leaving the site open to intermittent, small-scale specimen recovery by local miners.

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